Hi Everyone! Welcome to my end of November 2015 net worth update.

November was a very interesting month. My portfolio value fluctuated by $3,000-$5,000 on a weekly basis. WTI fluctuated crazily as well. WTI has been decreasing from $45 to $36 now. I like the fact that I have a day job to add more cash to my cash reserve under the volatile environment. I will have to reserve cash to get ready for 2016’s $11,000 TFSA room for me and my wifeand also some RRSP (For US Citizens, 401K, IRA, ROTH IRA…) so I kinda hope that the market stays like this or even drop further temporarily so that when January 1 2016 hits, I can afford to buy more stocks at good discounts.

When you invest, you should always look at long term investing horizon, not tomorrow, next month, next year etc…. If you foresee that you would need cash in a near future then investing in stocks isn’t for you. However when you start to focus on longer term view, then you will do quite well as long as you buy good stocks with great fundamentals at attractive price.

This is my eleventh 2015 net worth update. Net worth update is posted monthly to keep track of the progress of my journey to become a millionaire. I believe anyone can be a millionaire with good saving habits and smart investing plans. If you would like to join the journey, please follow me through my Facebook and twitter pages and subscribe your email for free updates.

It has been a bit more than one year since I started tracking my net worth. My net worth on July 31 2014 was $79,352 but it is now $137,868. That is $58,516 (74%) astonishing growth during last 16 months period. Can you believe it? My net worth grew by $3,657 per month on average. Keep it steady and slowly which is the key to become a millionaire.

I mentioned last month that I hadn’t purchased stocks for about 2 months, I finally pulled the trigger and bought Potash Corp and Black Diamond Group. That probably was the longest time that I held off buying stocks since I started this blog. As a self-proclaimed stock purchasing addict, not buying stock is the toughest thing that I have to do so I did it in November. I can see even more opportunities popping up in early December so I will probably buy more before the new year. The problem is I do not have enough cash to buy more. 🙂

Cash

The cash balance has decreased from $9,674 to $3,039 as we purchased Potash and Black Diamond Group in November. I was going to save up for 2016 TFSA room but we decided not to as the TFSA room significantly decreased from $10,000 to $5,500 in 2016. However TFSA is still an amazing instrument to invest so for someone who do not take advantage of TFSA and RRSP (for US citizens, 401K, IRA, ROTH IRA…) please use them for your future. They are wonderful instruments that will make your future brighter.

My majority of cash is sitting in President choice Debit account. I use it for the most of the money transfer, bill payments, cheques etc… as there is no transaction fee in this amazing card and cheques are free. Major banks typically charge $50-100 for 50 cheques but I pay nothing for that. Due to its partnership with CIBC bank, I can use their extensive CIBC ATMs network which is awesome. Their customer service is great as well.

I use TD bank card as well which is mainly used for investment fund transfer purpose as it is connected to TD warehouse brokerage account which gives me some convenience of transferring fund and invest. Check out the following section to see what credit cards and debit cards options we have in US and Canada.

Investment

My portfolio didn’t do very well this month. Total value went down by $2,400 (considering $10,000 of cash injection to non-registered account). Who really cares, I am not selling them anyways. I will try to buy more at even more discounts. Only problem I have right now is how to come up with more cash to take advantage of discounts in the market. 🙂

If you are also a dividend investor like me, then you should check out the following page to see how other dividend investors are doing. You won’t regret a moment of reading their valuable and inspirational articles. The Financial Bloggers Dividend Income List Oh right, you may want to check out the following section to see what other investing bloggers are up to as well. Blogroll

Credit card

My credit card debt is at around $1,200 which is higher level than usual because I had to purchase 2 tickets to my second hometown, Halifax and purchased some gifts. I got a good deal buying and booking the tickets. I shared all my tips in my last post-7 extremely easy tips to save 20-50% on flight tickets.

I am still close to debt free and I like it that way. I just love the feeling of keeping my credit card balance low as I feel empowered to be debt free.

We tried to minimize spending over last couple of months and it worked out pretty well. We use Capital one Costco credit card as it gives us 3% cash back on restaurants (6% on first 3 months). We also have MBNA cash back card that we use mainly for grocery and gas for 2% cash back and everything else for 1% cash back (5% on first 6 months) without any annual fee. Unlike capital one cash back card and all other cash back cards out there, MBNA card is well beyond expectation. First of all, MBNA pays cold hard cash back (not points toward purchasing goods and services) and secondly, MBNA directly deposits the cash right away to your bank when it hits $50 mark. That’s great as I don’t have to wait until the end of the year to collect cash. Remember. Everything adds up.

Check out the following links if you are interested in getting awesome credit cards like MBNA and Capital one credit cards.

Spending

We have been tightening up spending. We set up two major rules and following religiously so far.

My wife added some more healthy option after watching some documentary films about how chickens, milk cows etc… are raised so we have been purchasing quality organic ingredients, cook home meals most of time and go out and enjoy restaurant meal once a month together in a mutually agreed restaurant.

We shop at Costco once a month for majority of grocery (They are always fresh and love their AAA beef so much for very attractive prices) then for urgent needs, my wife goes grocery nearby our place for eggs, milks, vegetable and fruits as in need basis. Our monthly grocery budget is $500 per month. I know it is high for just two people but we love healthy and good quality food and I am a meateatarian.

We will keep being frugal on all other expenditures. See the following links for excellent ways to save money.

Hope you enjoyed this month’s net worth update. Remember, if you haven’t, set your saving & investing plans up and try to see how much net worth you have reached as of now and how much it has fluctuated in the past. Knowing where you are and where you will be headed will be a great starting point to be a millionaire and retire comfortably. Hang in there. I will be on the journey with you.

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Just found the site – love the numbers and detailed updates! Hate to say it, but my wife and I go to Costco more than once a month and easily spend over $500 on food for us two – especially around holiday times! Definitely something we can work on.

Look forward to watching the steady climb to $1M – I hope I’m right there with you 🙂

Yeah $500 can be a tight budget but still plenty when shopped smartly. $1M will eventually happen if we keep moving under this momentum. Haha I just want it to accelerate a bit faster but we will see 🙂 Thanks for the support!

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No market darling is safe in this bear market - $PBH $NFI $RCH $BYD $DOL $SPIN $KXS $CCL etc.
Many of them are in 1.5- 2 years low. Great time to initiate or build up. Discount is still discount. We just don’t know how heavy the discount will be and how long the sale will last

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